I followed the scent for a good thousand yards before I came upon it, coming across numerous signs of struggle. It was a well used trail, and the signs of bloodshed were everywhere. Judging by the state of the magic aura in the area, many parties observed. But none had yet intervened.

Ah, that’s why, I thought to myself. The bear wasn’t any normal bear. It had lived long enough and consumed enough magic that it evolved, becoming a dire bear. It was not yet dead, but judging by how much blood it had lost, it would expire soon. It would seem that it fought against a particularly fearsome opponent.

I turned my attention to the source of the unknown smell. It was rather frail looking. How could this creature have possibly stood up to a dire bear, much less mortally wounded it? Yet, something about its shape called to me. I turned my attention from the dying dire bear and focused on the creature. Hmmm, this magic aura seemed particularly potent, even as it was beginning to fade in the throes of death. It seemed to have covered itself in the hides of other creatures and materials refined from the earth. Lying next to it was a large quill made of tree matter with a refined earthen tip. Spear, my memory whispered to me in recognition of the item.

Spear? What is that? Is it some kind of growth? Is that how it managed to wound the dire bear?

I brushed the stray thoughts aside. Presented with such a lucky feast, it would be strange if I were not to partake, right? The other observers that I sensed, they slunk away in fear. They knew that they cannot hope to match a chimera. As a species, once we mature, we are quite powerful.

As I appraised the frail looking corpse before me, I sensed the dire bear’s last breath. The beast is no more. Presented with a bounty such as this, I am at a loss. Which shall I eat first? The creature with the strange spear/quill, or the dire bear? As I mull over my decision, I feel something. It is odd. Something of a reluctance from within me if I were to try to identify it. It is like it is pointing me away from the frail creature and to the dire bear.

Well, I suppose that settles it. I will eat the dire bear first.

Oh! This taste is quite strong! It is so strong and full of vitality!

Unable and unwilling to restrain myself, I devoured the beast. It was many times my size, but I ate until it was gone. I consumed gigantic mouthfuls of the magnificent beast. My stomach did not bulge from this feat, for I am a chimera and our appetites are never truly sated. Our stomachs convert anything and everything to magic, whose properties are used to reinforce our bodies. As I consumed its flesh, I could just imagine how its strength would suffuse my body. That strength, such an exquisite taste! Seven or eight more and I would have absorbed all of the best attributes of a dire bear!

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My hunger urged me to go out and hunt more of them right now, even knowing how foolish such a thing would be.

Yet I restrained myself. To mortally wound such a powerful beast, this frail creature must have possessed extraordinary power of its own, despite its frame. I decided to devour it too. I felt some unexplainable reluctance about eating it, but my instincts and desire to grow stronger overpowered that slight reticence. It must have been powerful to mortally wound a dire bear.

A short while later, I awakened from my customary nap after eating something new.

What the fuck?

What just happened?

Something is really strange here. Why is everything so off?

Everything is suddenly so different!

I don’t understand!

I had just eaten that puny thing, then took a nap, so why was I acting like this?

Human, my memory informed me. The creature I just ate was called a human. Why do I know this? Oh fuck, why are my thoughts so different all of a sudden?

What is this?

“Gaaaaaaaah!”

Hearing the sound of my own roar, I calmed down a bit.

This was weird. Seriously weird.

My brain suddenly felt so much more… nimble? Is that the right word? It is and it isn’t.

My mind scrambled as it suddenly began making new connections between things I had never considered related before. Was it because I ate that human?

I didn’t like this one bit, it was very unsettling the way that my mind suddenly began racing about. Eating that human thing changed me. It was like when I eat something more clever, but amplified by a million times.

What is going on?!

Calm down. Calm down. Consider your situation calmly. Think. You’re a chimera. You absorb the best traits of what you eat.

What I ate was a human. I need to calm down and concentrate, and figure out how much it changed me.

Okay.

A few minutes went by, and I calmed down. I’d taken the time to search through my mind. For some reason, I had more knowledge in there than I can remember learning. Actual knowledge, unlike those fragments I’d always experienced. According to these memories, humans are a race of creatures that have managed to survive and thrive by the use of their wits.

Hmm, there’s something else there, but it's on the verge of being remembered. Perhaps if I ate another of these humans?

Not acceptable! I didn’t know why, but my mind rebelled at the thought of hunting more humans down. They should be nothing more than food, but why was I feeling so reluctant to kill more of them? I felt no such compunction towards other beings.

Ah, this is quite irritating.

So, for the time being, I decided to move on and look for other prey.

I stretched myself out from where I had fallen unconscious, and stood up. Concentrating my senses, I noticed a buildup of magical power to the south. South? Where did the concept of that kind of direction come from?

Ugh. I dismissed the thought, and instead focused on what lay ahead.

I decided that I should head toward the site of conflict, and consume the loser. If the winner is sufficiently weakened, I would eat them too. I am a chimera, that is my nature. And despite everything, I felt stronger than ever.